


shakedown

by perhapssoon



Series: four unlikely allies [2]
Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Gen, dumb teens, kinda angsty if you look into it, never go into a trap on purpose kids, not relevant to jason todd i swear, they're trying their best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-12 00:14:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18000131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perhapssoon/pseuds/perhapssoon
Summary: Red X goes missing and his teammates-of-two-seconds look for him.





	shakedown

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly don't know what I'm doing.

If Kyd Wykkyd was asked to name every single strange thing that happened to him, he would first sign obscenities at them for assuming he could talk. He would then write up a long list of every single thing that had occurred ever since he was a villain. Because honestly, nothing was stranger than having people with superpowers pursuing you when all you wanted to do was build a pillow fort in the basement of the HIVE Five base.

But despite all of it, Jinx contacting her former team members using that gigantic computer monitor in the middle of the team room has to probably rank in at least the top twenty things.

"I need a favor," she says as soon as her face flickers into place above the stunned HIVE Five.

Seemore and Gizmo both speak at the same time.

"Of course, what do you need?"

"What the hell? How did you get here?"

Jinx blinks; obviously, the thought that some people may not want to see her hadn't occurred. Kyd would facepalm if he wasn't overwhelmed by her suddenly appearing in front of him.

None of them had gotten over Jinx's betrayal yet. She left them and joined the Teen Titans just because she liked some speedster dude. Kyd held nothing against her personally, because, well, she was still Jinx and a sister figure to him. And second, Kid Flash was cute enough that Kyd could see why Jinx fell for him. But leaving the HIVE Five without telling them and then turning on them? It hurt.

Seemore obviously had forgiven Jinx immediately because he's standing so close to the TV that Kyd isn't sure if Jinx can see him. "No, Gizmo, let her speak."

He's hurt, Kyd can see that, even if he doesn't act like it. They're all hurt, but they all handled it in different ways. Gizmo reacted by lashing out, Mammoth and Seemore by bawling their eyes out, Billy by shutting himself in his room for two days, and Kyd, well, he didn't really react as most to just shove his feelings down.

Jinx looks relieved, however, and she says quickly, "We're looking for Red X, you guys know him?"

"Know him?" Billy scoffs, evidently taking advantage of them being on somewhat good terms to speak like nothing changed. Kyd knows better. "That fella's been stealing like there's gonna be no tomorrow. He's way better than us, isn't that right, Billy?"

He duplicates and his clone snickers. "Oh, yeah Billy."

Jinx looks slightly annoyed now, like she really regrets calling them, but since they all know about Red X, it's another step forward. Kyd honestly hasn't seen the thief ever since the tournament, but as Jinx's focus is on Billy, he doesn't want to draw attention to himself.

"Okay, so do you know the last place he hit?"

Billy shrugs, his clone merging with his body again. "Last time I heard, he was hittin' up that tournament we all were at," he says, and Jinx visibly deflates.

"Alright, thanks Billy."

"Hold on," Seemore says, looking slightly suspicious. "Why do you want to find him so bad?"

"The Titans--" Everyone in the room winces but Jinx doesn't seem to notice. "--have been looking for him. Apparently he stole something of Robin's during the tournament but it was the only thing that didn't have a tracking device on it so.." she trails off, before someone calls her name offscreen. "I gotta go. Thanks for the info."

Her image flickers out and the HIVE Five exchange looks.

Gizmo is the first to speak, his voice rising two octaves higher than normal. "Why does she think she can just come here like nothing happened and--"

"She looks happier," Seemore says thoughtfully, cutting the shorter boy off.

"You think it's the Titans doing that?" Mammoth asks, and Gizmo snorts.

"Those crud-munchers must've brainwashed her or something." He crosses his arms. "No way she would be happier with them."

Seemore makes a noise of disagreement but says nothing in response. He crosses the room to the door and pauses in the doorway. "I dunno, but she seems more cheerful with them. That's all."

He leaves, the door hissing shut behind him.

One by one the HIVE Five leave as well, their attention span still ever lasting two seconds after the conversation was over, leaving Kyd to stand in front of the TV, lost in thought.

His first thought is it's kinda ironic that once Kid Flash pointed out that HIVE Five was, in fact, made of  _six_  members instead of five, they had lost a member. Which meant that they didn't need to change their name, but the loss of Jinx still hovered over them. They'd left her room as it was, destroyed and broken as it was, because none of them could bring themselves to go through her stuff to salvage it. And then Jinx comes back, seemingly oblivious of everything they went through because of her.

His second thought is of Red X. The thief never really left Jump City except to join the Brotherhood of Evil for several weeks, so it's kinda weird that he wouldn't be in town. Unless someone got his hands on him.

Knowing the potential enemies Red X must've made in his so-called career, Kyd is certain of the latter. But he's not cut out to search for people when they could be anywhere in the city. Their computer in the HIVE base may be fast, but they are useless without someone like Gizmo at the controls. And Gizmo might not take doing a favor to Jinx rather lightly.

Which means he'll have to contact Jinx.

Easier said than done.

He assumes that she's holed up in the Titans Tower, so that's where he heads first, hitching  ride on top of a bus to the docks and then teleporting in small bursts to where the Tower is isolated in the middle of the water.

The Tower is bigger than he thought, and he briefly contemplates going in through the window, but resolves to knock on the door instead.

It swings open on the second knock and he's met face-to-face with a very irked Beast Boy.

"Who--!" he stops when he sees Kyd, his mouth opening to yell for backup.

Kyd quickly signs  _I need to see Jinx_. He spells out Jinx's name instead of his usual sign for her, but Beast Boy doesn't seem to understand.

"Woah, dude, are you using sign language?" He blinks and then says, "I dunno how to read it though, so uh," he pauses and yells behind him, "ROBIN!"

The Boy Wonder himself appears in the doorway and Kyd backs away. Robin is intimidating sometimes, and the look on his face is outright murderous. "What do you want?"

 _I need to see Jinx_ , Kyd signs again, partially out of fear. Robin's eyebrows draw together.

"Jinx? Why would you want to see her?"

 _Have information on Red X._  Kyd accidentally uses the sign he made up for the thief, but Robin seems to understand. It's a lie, anyway. He needs to tell Jinx that Red X could be dead in a ditch by now.

"Well you can tell me anyway. We're all looking for him--"

"What's going on here?" Usually an arrival from another Titan would make things worse, but the familiar deadpan voice makes Kyd want to sigh with relief.

It's Raven.

"Kyd Wykkyd has information on Red X," Robin says, his eyes never leaving Kyd's.

Raven frowns. "Okay, what's the info?"

Kyd looks frantically to Robin and Beast Boy. They weren't part of the team during the tournament, and he's pretty sure that Raven and Jinx would probably understand the situation better than the other Titans could. The makeshift team isn't particularly close, especially since they only teamed up for that one event, but Kyd feels a connection to the others that he believes is probably important. Which is why he needs Robin and Beast Boy to leave.

Raven doesn't understand, however, so Kyd has to make this as blunt as possible.  _Can't tell you with them there._  He points to Beast Boy and Robin, who both look offended somewhat. Beast Boy doesn't understand sign language but he seems to get the gist of it anyway.

"Why can't they stay here?" Raven asks, and Kyd shakes his head at her.

_They won't understand._

When she still looks confused, he adds,  _The tournament._

Realization dawns on her face and she nods. "Yeah, okay. Robin, Beast Boy, you gotta leave."

"What if it's a trick?" Robin responds, mask-eyes narrowing at Kyd, who shrinks away.

"It's not," Raven says calmly, and that seems to be enough reason for Beast Boy.

“C’mon Robin, lets go play video games!” With a sigh and a glare in Kyd’s direction, Robin reluctantly let himself be dragged off by the green-skinned boy.

Now alone, Raven turns her full attention to Kyd. “What is it?”

_There’s a high possibility Red X has been captured._

Her eyes widen. “What?”

 _The HIVE Five love his antics and Billy, one of those people who keeps up to date on thievery, hasn’t seen him since the tournament._  It’s a pain to spell out all the names, but it gets the message across. Raven’s eyes narrow.

“Okay, so he’s captured. What do you want me to do?”

_I was hoping Jinx was here so I could tell her but you were at the tournment. We are all in this together now, whether you like it or not._

“Just because we team up once doesn’t mean we suddenly have blood ties,” Raven argues, but her eyes have lost their fire.

Kyd smirks, sensing he’s won this argument.  _Yeah sure._

She rolls her eyes and floats out of the building to join him outside, the door hissing shut behind her. “Okay. Jinx is with Kid Flash. They’re somewhere in Jump City having a date or whatever, I don’t really know.”

Kyd squints.  _A date?_

Raven gives him a look and he backs down, signing frantically.  _Yeah yeah of course. A date._

She scoffs in response and teleports them back to the docks.

As soon as her astral form reenters her body, Kyd starts forward, before realizing he doesn't know where he's going.

_Where did you say they were having their date?_

"I didn't."

Kyd pouts at her but allows her to lead the way down the street.

\--

Jinx isn't stupid. She knows when people need to tell her things. She's spent long enough around Kyd to know the sense of urgency and this was pretty big. She excuses herself from the table to 'go to the bathroom' (Kid Flash squints at her before letting her go) and instead walks outside to where Raven and Kyd are standing.

"You're just going to leave him?" Raven points out, and Jinx shrugs.

"He'll figure it out."

Raven's lips twitch slightly. "Kyd here thinks that Red X may be captured or something. He said that the HIVE Five like to keep tabs on him but he hasn't been seen since the tournament."

Jinx crosses her arms, lost in thought. The HIVE Five was usually bad at a lot of things, but keeping up to date with villains (or thieves) they admired was not one of them. So if even Billy hadn't seen him, she guesses that the thief was MIA.

She mentally kicks herself for not realizing sooner.

"Okay, so he's missing. You have a plan to find him?"

"You used to the the HIVE Five's leader. Aren't you the one to come up with plans?"

"Oh and  _Raven_  is telling me this? Did you pick up on Robin's superior intellect or not?"

Kyd waves his hands and signs,  _Stop fighting. We need to find Red X._

"Right," Raven says, immediately turning her back on Jinx to face Kyd. "I don't suppose you can track people?"

Kyd shakes his head.

"If we ask Robin for he--"

"If he hasn't found Red X either, how would that help?" Jinx asks, and Raven huffs.

"Fine. I guess we split up and look for him. Use these."

She produces two earpieces. "You know how to use these, right?"

"We aren't dumb," Jinx says irritatedly and takes one, clipping it to her ear. Kyd takes his and frowns down at it. He can't talk, which will probably be an issue.

He's about to tell Raven when she says, "Hopefully you know morse code, because you can just tap out what you need to say."

"I don't understand morse code," Jinx puts in and Raven shrugs.

"I can translate for you."

They stand there in silence for several seconds before Kyd gestures to the streets, indicating they should get moving.

They part ways in the same silence.

\--

He can't see. He can't see. He can't see.

It's dumb and boring to have the same thoughts running through his head over and over, but Robin hadn't been bothered to install night vision into the damn suit. So now he's stuck here, in the dark.

He recalls how remarkably easy it was for his captor to take him. He'd let down his guard after the tournament, and before he knew it, he was being shoved against a wall as a needle sent some tranquilizer into his bloodstream.

He woke up later in complete darkness.

There's a clanging noise, like knocking, and his head automatically tilts towards the sound, even if he can't see a thing.

"Is the illusionary Red X still in there?" The voice is distorted and weirdly fluctuated, but Red X takes it as his captor's voice.

"Yeah, no thanks to you," he calls back, his throat immediately regretting it because staying this long without water really does something to it. "How about letting me out to have a breath of fresh air?"

"No can do," the voice replies. "You're our prisoner now. We're gonna hold you ransom."

"For who?" He finds it hilarious that they're holding  _him_ , Red X, hostage for some random people to apparently pay for money. He's not close to anyone and doesn't plan to be. Attachments only bring him down."The government?"

"Those friends of yours," the voice says, and Red X laughs, his scratchy and disused voice echoing around the dark room.

"They're not my friends," he says, once he's calmed down. "It was a temporary alliance to get to the common goal."

"I beg to differ," the voice replies. "The Teen Titans raised the word that you're missing. Apparently you stole something from them?"

"Oh yeah, that thing." Honestly, he's forgotten about it by now. He doesn't remember where he put it. "What about it?"

"They want it back," the voice says and Red X has just about tuned him out when the next words make him freeze.

"Those 'allies' of yours are looking for you. They've agreed to pay the ransom."

Oh how  _stupid_. If Red X didn't know any better, he wouldn't have believed it. He's not worth a ransom and besides, why would they even want him to be freed? The pink-haired girl, Jinx, was smart, wasn't she? Why would she agree to pay a stupid ransom to free a thief?

"So what?" He keeps the surprise and horror out of his voice as well as he can. "They pay the ransom and then what?"

"Then we lure them in," the voice says. "Keep them here under the promise of freeing you."

"They're not that dumb," Red X lies, and the voice chuckles.

"Oh, I would bet on that."

\--

"So we're just going to pay this?" Jinx asks, staring down at the sheet of paper she'd found tacked to a nearby shed. "Doesn't this seem a bit sketchy?"

"We don't have another choice," Raven says. "Besides, they only want to be paid in person because apparently leaving money on the side of the road isn't enough."

 _It could be a trap_ , Kyd signs.

"No, obviously not." The sarcasm practically drips from Raven's words. "We're all going to have to be on guard with this. It's suspicious enough as it is."

Jinx turns the paper upside down and squints. "Says here that we have to meet at, uh," she flips the paper right side up. "I can't read this."

Raven holds her hand out for the paper and Jinx hands it to her. " 'Two blocks down from here, third shed over. Keep the money in plain sight.' " She sighs and crumples the paper and drops it, Kyd catching it at the last second, tossing it into the nearest trash bin. "Seems like a setup but it's the best we can do."

She, nor the others, bother to point out they're risking money and their lives to help someone who only looks out for himself. It's a price to pay for being somewhat teammates once upon a time, she muses as they walk the next few blocks. It makes them stick together for some strange reason, even if they don't want to.

It's been three days, and they'd just found the paper detailing any hints about Red X's location.  Jinx had volunteered to get the money but Kyd handled it for her. Raven has a feeling that they both knew that the pink-haired girl couldn't risk her status even if it was for something good. She was already walking the line with the Titans and the HIVE Five.

Two arguments and a broken bank vault later, they finally had the money they needed to pay the ransom. Raven decides to arrest Kyd later, once this was over, for breaking into the vault, though she knows that she would conveniently 'forget' and have Robin do it instead.

"Aaand here we are." Jinx stares disinterestedly at the shack in front of them, more of a run down barn than a factory shed. "Do we just sit here or--?"

 _Look._ Kyd points towards the door.  _It's opening by itself._

Kyd's right: the door  _is_  opening by itself, the slab of wood swinging forward on its hinges, creaking loudly in the silence.

There's a pause, and the door widens all the way, slamming against the wall with a bang. Raven supposes that nothing really could prepare them for this and so starts forward, Jinx and Kyd following her hesitantly.

"Money." She holds her hand out and Kyd presses the stack of bills into her palm. She encases it in dark energy and it floats ahead of them as they move into the blackness.

"Took you awhile," a voice rings out, distorted and echoing around the room. Raven can feel something tugging at the money in her telekinetic grip and she releases it. The door slams shut behind them, several clunks ringing out as it is bolted closed, and Raven backs up, bumping into Jinx, who has her hand out, glowing brightly enough to see her expression of anticipation. "I was beginning to realize you wouldn't show up, being as oblivious and dumb as you are to take that ransom."

The lights turn on and reveal the room, empty at first glance. There are speakers lining the walls, large and black with billions of knobs all over it, and Raven deduces it as the source of the voice.

"Where's Red X?" she says.

There's no reply from the voice but the wall in front of her pulls away to reveal the thief sitting in some kind of see through box, mask-eyes staring blankly out at them.

She starts forward, but the speakers around her crackle. "Don't get too close. He can't see you; this is more like those police interrogation rooms. You can see in, but he can't see out."

Apparently the box isn't soundproof, because the thief turns his head slightly and says, "Yeah, but you talking to them makes it obvious they're here."

He looks back at the trio and even though his eyes don't focus on them, Raven can sense he's talking to them. "And you guys are really dumb to try to break me out of here. You didn't think it was a trap?"

Raven can feel Jinx tense beside her. "You're our -- were our -- teammate. Teams don't leave each other behind," she adds, glancing at Kyd. "I'm sorry I left you guys like that. You didn't deserve it. You may drive me crazy sometimes but that wasn't an excuse for what I did."

 _It's alright,_  Kyd signs, a slight smile on his face.  _Though I'm not the one you need to apologize to._

He signs four other symbols, things Raven doesn't understand, but the most she can discern is that Jinx understands what they mean.

"Yeah, I know." She pauses and adds, "Thank you."

"Well that was touching, but I think you're forgetting the situation here," Red X puts in, crossing his arms. "You were my teammates for barely a day yet you come in here with ransom money for this guy." He points to himself. "That isn't really worth anything, is it?"

"It is," Raven says. She doesn't know how she's so sure, and the confidence in her voice surprises her. It seems to surprise Red X as well as the thief sits up straighter, leaning towards the source of her voice.

"Goth Girl, it wasn't worth the effort. You got here, with the money, and now what? You're stuck in here with me."

"That's right," the voice over the loudspeaker says. "I left the elusive Red X in this place for what, a week? And you three were dumb enough to come here and--"

"Stop calling us dumb, oh my God," Jinx grumbles, and a hexblast outs the speakers, reducing them to scraps.

"You have to admit that you were," Red X says from his prison. "No one deliberately walks into a trap like that with no end results in mind."

"There is an end result," Jinx says. "Freeing you."

A second hexbolt erupts from her palms and the thief's prison falls away. Red X stands slowly, wincing a bit as he unfolds himself. Raven has no idea what the long term effects of a human without food (or water, if his captor was that cruel) for at least a week are, and she hopes that it isn't anything serious.

"Did they give you water?"

Red X shrugs, rolling his shoulders back. "Yeah, once. I probably won't be at my peak right now."

"No kidding," Jinx says, and Red X snorts.

"Wasn't sure if you actually coming to rescue me still affected the rest of your logical thought so I might as well point it out."

"Okay, enough," Raven breaks in before Jinx can get in a retort. "We have to figure out how to get out of here."

"There are bombs going to be set in about three minutes," Red X offers, raising both hands when the other three turn to look at him in alarm. "Hey, it was just something the voice said. Because now that I think of it, the person behind this could be working for that person who hosted the tournament. Explains a lot, actually."

"Great, but that won't help us get out of here before the bombs go off," Raven says, and casts a gaze up at the roof. "I can try to portal us out of here."

"That easy, huh?" She can see the grin beneath Red X's mask. "I'm all for easy."

Raven just shakes her head in exasperation and with a quick gesture at the ceiling, a dark portal opens above them. "Hurry!"

Kyd grabs Jinx around the waist and teleports away, Red X following close behind. Raven quickly launches herself through the portal and she closes it right as the whole building explodes.

The resulting effect is being tossed like a leaf through the air and landing on the street rather hard, her shoulder screaming in pain as she rolls onto her stomach. "Everyone okay?" she asks through gritted teeth.

"Yeah," Jinx says, from her left. The pink-haired teen looks worse for wear, her clothes ripped and charred at the ends, but otherwise looking fine. Kyd seems okay too, the ears of his cowl a bit limp, but unharmed. However, Red X is barely standing, and Raven wants to yell at him for blowing off his weakness so easily. A week of starvation can't be good on anyone, and it definitely has taken its toll on the thief.

"Help him," Raven points to Kyd, and the teleporter hurriedly moves to support Red X. "And Jinx, contact KF. We need to evaluate the area. I'll call Robin, and Kyd, get Red X to wherever you and the HIVE Five are holed up. We can't have you here when KF shows up."

Kyd nods and teleports away.

Jinx stares at the spot where they vanished for a bit, looking guilty, and Raven knows she wants to follow them to apologize to the rest of the HIVE Five, but she can't risk any evidence of whoever took Red X to be lost.

"Jinx." The girl looks up, and Raven does her best to tap into her own emotions. "I know how you feel, but we have to figure this out, okay?"

Jinx nods, and pulls her communicator from her belt to talk into it, Raven calling Robin herself.

"Raven?" Robin sounds a bit groggy, but Raven ignores it.

"Hey Robin, we need you over here as fast as you can. What's your ETA?"

"Just woke up from a nap, but twenty minutes?"

"Great." Raven clicks her communicator to shut it off, and glances over at Jinx, who gives her a tentative smile.

They'll find the person who did this and track them down, but in the moment she feels satisfied. Things will work out, she's certain of it.

**Author's Note:**

> this is NOT supposed to be a ref to red x as jason todd istg
> 
> comments and kudos are appreciated dfhjskdf


End file.
